The Bank of Canada’s wild experiment — will it change everything?
During the past several months, Canada has been dishing out a lot of money. Money to citizens, corporations, provincial governments etc. Indeed, Canada is anticipating paying out a colossal amount of at least $350 billion.
Have you wondered where all this money is coming from? Has Canada issued bonds to individuals or corporations? No. Has Canada borrowed it from the International Monetary Fund? No. Has Canada gotten it from a bank account? No.
Canada didn’t get the money from anywhere. It simply printed it. Hundreds of billions. Canada will never pay back one dime and it will never pay back one cent in interest. The only proof of its existence is that it is recorded as a liability on Canada’s balance sheet. It will be there forever.
Canada didn’t get the money from anywhere. It simply printed it. Hundreds of billions.
If there are no consequences to this money-printing, what would it mean to our future? I believe that it means that it is the ability to provide services and goods, which is important to the economy. Not finances. Our balanced monetary policy which the world has followed for centuries has become irrelevant. The policy has been thrown out the window by our elected officials. This same policy has been adopted by other countries such as United States, Europe and Britain.
What would that mean for our future? I believe that it means there is no reason why Canada cannot have a guaranteed minimum annual income for all. There is no reason why all children are not provided the best social, educational and health services to ensure that all children are given the best opportunity to become the best that they can be. There is no reason why diseases such as cystic fibrosis can’t be cured. There is no reason why better services cannot be provided to our prisoner population to help them escape their circumstances.
In other words, money is no longer a problem in helping our citizens who need help in our society. Maybe it’s time for real change.
Greg Stokes
St. John’s
